The deaths of two Marshall County men this week served as a reminder of ice-fishing dangers and the possibility of ice thickness and strength varying across a body of water.

Peru Rescue Station member Dave Haupt this week said fellow water-rescue and recovery team members said the ice on the pond near Henry was about 3 inches thick near the shore, but they didn’t know the thickness where the anglers went through the ice in the middle. He said while some people venture out on ice 3 inches thick, there are times when 5- and even 8-inch-thick ice can become soft or degraded, compromised or honeycombed, what Haupt likes to call “rotten ice.”

Neither Haupt nor county investigators nor Illinois Conservation Police Sgt. Robert “Hank” Frazier knows exactly what occurred in the ice-fishing accident, but they all are aware that many factors can make ice unsafe.

Frazier said he’d never want to say 5 inches thick is safe, because if he did, someone might venture out on it and then go through weakened ice or go through a place where the ice was thin, perhaps because of current, an incoming stream or a spring.

“I think people who go to Wisconsin and drive across 10-, 12-inch ice are crazy,” Frazier added.

After rain Thursday and warming air temperatures Friday and today, ice even on still-water ponds is likely to become extremely dangerous.

Rain runoff can cause water temperatures to rise as well.

Haupt said he has enjoyed ice fishing at times. He said he usually drills a test hole 3 feet from the bank and every few feet to make sure the ice is consistent and thick enough.

“I do them every several feet to make sure there’re no variances,” Haupt said.
Just because the ice is good near shore doesn’t mean it will be safe everywhere on a body of water.

If Haupt sees open water near the bank but ice looks thick, he would stay off of it. He says whenever ice looks “milky”, stay off of it, regardless of thickness. And water on top of ice is another danger signal.

Extra precautions
Even when ice seems safe, Haupt advises taking precautions.

There are ice picks that fishermen can attach to the sleeves of their coats, and people could use those to pull themselves out. He advises fishermen (and boaters) to have a cell phone and put it in one waterproof bag, and then put that bag and phone in another bag and then put that in their pocket. If they happened to go through, they’d have at least a chance of calling for help and keeping their phone dry.

He also advises putting on a personal floatation device. Frazier agrees with the life-jacket tip. In fact, conservation officers and many rescuers wear something called a “Mustang suit,” which is a cold-weather, insulated set of floatation pants and jacket. Conservation police officers received the suits from Illinois Emergency Management Agency after a blizzard stranded motorists on the interstate and the CPOs spent much of a cold winter night on snowmobiles without having ideal cold-weather gear.

The CPOs are required to wear life jackets at all times in the warm months, and they wear the cold-water, cold-weather suits if they go out on ice or when they’re out in boats checking on duck hunters in late fall and early winter, Frazier said.
In short, though, going through the ice is a deadly situation, even with good gear, due to how quickly hypothermia can set in. That’s the word from Haupt, whose Peru group unfortunately is called more often for body recovery than life-saving, and from Frazier, who has been dealing with fishing and drowning accidents for 23 years.

“If you kind of have some doubt (about the ice), then don’t go out at all,” Frazier said. “If you’re thinking ‘this isn’t a good idea,’ you shouldn’t be out there in the first place.”

Great Lakes warning
The Associated Press on Friday provided the following warning for the Great Lakes:
“The U.S. Coast Guard is warning that warmer temperatures over the next few days are likely to cause unsafe ice conditions in parts of the Great Lakes.

“Forecasts of temperatures in the 50s and 60s in Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit and western New York state mean the ice on Lake Erie and other lakes and rivers could be dangerously thin.

“The Coast Guard warns that ice always can be dangerous and unpredictable. It says anyone venturing out on the ice should take proper precautions, no matter the weather.

“The Coast Guard recommends that people know the conditions before going out and never go alone. It also recommends wearing the proper clothing and taking equipment such as a life preserver.”





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